Installing Greenhouse
Greenhouse runs on a retail Xbox in developer mode, a feature Microsoft provides. Switching a console into it takes about half an hour the first time, most of which is waiting. You do not need a development kit, and nothing here modifies the console's firmware.
Before you start
Consoles
Xbox One, Xbox Series S and Xbox Series X. Developer mode is available on retail consoles of all three.
A developer account
A Microsoft account registered on Partner Center. Registering as an individual is what you want; a company registration costs more and gets you nothing extra here.
What it costs
Microsoft sets this and has changed it more than once — it has been a one-time fee and it has been free. Individual registration also requires identity verification. Check the registration page for the current terms before you pay anything. We deliberately do not print a figure here.
A second device
A phone or computer on the same network, with a browser. The console is set up through a web page it serves itself.
Storage
Games are downloaded to the console through your own Steam account, so allow for the size of whatever you intend to play.
Developer mode is Microsoft's, not ours
It exists so developers can test on retail hardware, and the terms are theirs to change. In January 2022 a routine clean-up of inactive Partner Center accounts deactivated a number of them by mistake; Microsoft restored them and said it has no plans to remove or disable developer mode. That is the only incident we know of, and it is five years old, but it is the honest answer to “could this stop working?” — it could, and it would not be in our hands.
Putting the console in developer mode
Register as a developer
Sign in at Partner Center with the Microsoft account you use on the Xbox, and choose the individual registration. Identity verification can take a day or two, so start here rather than at the console.
Install the Dev Mode app on the Xbox
On the console, search the Microsoft Store for Xbox Dev Mode and install it. Open it and it shows an activation code.
There is an older activation app with a black icon that no longer works. If the one you opened does not show a code, you have that one.
Activate
On your phone or computer, go to Microsoft's activation page, sign in with the same account, and enter the code. The console then restarts into developer mode, which takes a few minutes.
Find Dev Home
After the restart the console boots into Dev Home instead of the normal dashboard. This is where everything below happens. Switching back to retail mode is a button on this screen and takes another restart; your games, saves and account are untouched by either direction.
Installing Greenhouse
Turn on remote access
In Dev Home, open Remote Access Settings and enable remote access. It shows an address — something like
https://192.168.1.20:11443. Note it down.Open that address in a browser
On your phone or computer, on the same network. The browser will warn you about the certificate, because the console signs its own; this is expected on a local address and you can continue past it.
Upload the Greenhouse package
Members download a single
.msixfile from their account page. In the Device Portal go to My games & apps → Add, choose that file, and upload it. A first install takes a few minutes; the console does most of the work after the upload finishes.Set the content type to Game, and restart
Still in the Device Portal, open Xbox settings and set the default UWP content type to Game, then restart the console. Do this before you play anything.
It is not cosmetic. An app gets about 1 GB of memory on a dev-mode console and a game gets the rest; left as an app, Greenhouse runs, but anything large stops with an out-of-video-memory message that looks like a bug in the game.
Launch it
Greenhouse appears in Dev Home alongside anything else you have installed. Launch it from there.
First run
Greenhouse walks you through this the first time it starts, so you do not have to memorise it:
Link your membership
A code appears on the television. Scan it with your phone and sign in on the membership page. The console renews by itself after that and keeps working offline for up to a week between check-ins.
Sign in to Steam
Greenhouse shows a Steam sign-in code on the television. You approve it in the Steam app on your phone — Greenhouse never sees your password. This is how it knows which games are yours.
Pick a game and download it
Your Steam library appears in Greenhouse. Choose a title you own and it downloads to the console from Steam, then plays. Greenhouse does not host, include or supply games; everything you play is a copy you already own.
When it goes wrong
“Not ready yet” when you launch
The install finished but the console has not finished registering it. Wait a minute and launch again. If it persists, remove the app in Dev Home and upload the file again rather than restarting mid-install.
The upload stalls or the Device Portal stops answering
Usually the console, not your browser. Restart the console, wait for Dev Home to come back, and retry the upload from the beginning.
A game runs badly, or not at all
Check the compatibility database first — it records what each title actually does on each console model, including the ones that do not work and why. If your result differs, send a report. If a title is not there at all, put it in the queue.
Some games cannot work, and never will
Titles wrapped in certain commercial DRM, or using kernel-level anti-cheat, do not run under Greenhouse and we do not attempt to defeat either. Those are recorded as walls in the compatibility database with the reason named. See what Greenhouse is not.